The Crickets

The Crickets

The Crickets were a rock band from Lubbock, Texas, formed by singer/songwriter Buddy Holly in the 1950s. Their first hit record was "That'll Be the Day," released in 1957.

Holly had been making demonstration records with local musician friends since 1954. Sonny Curtis, Jerry Allison, and Larry Welborn participated in these sessions. In 1956 Holly's band (then known informally as The Three Tunes) recorded an album's worth of rockabilly numbers in Nashville, Tennessee; the records were no more than mildly successful, and the band didn't hit pay dirt until 1957, when producer and recording engineer Norman Petty hosted Holly's sessions in Clovis, New Mexico.

Holly had already recorded for another label under his own name, so to avoid legal problems he needed a new name for his group. As the Crickets recalled in John Goldrosen's book "The Buddy Holly Story," they were inspired by other groups named after birds, and then they thought of insects. It is worth noting that they almost chose the name "Beetles". Years later, John Lennon named his band The Beatles partly in homage to Holly and The Crickets.

The Crickets were lead guitarist and vocalist Buddy Holly, drummer Jerry Allison, bassist Joe B. Mauldin, and rhythm guitarist Niki Sullivan. Sullivan dropped out after a little more than one year to resume his education. The Crickets, now a trio, continued to make stage and TV appearances, and recorded more songs, many composed by the band members themselves.

During 1957 Norman Petty arranged for The Crickets' recordings to be marketed under two separate names. The solo vocals went out as "Buddy Holly" and the songs with dubbed backing vocals were issued as "The Crickets." Petty reasoned, correctly, that disc jockeys might be reluctant to program a single artist too heavily, but would have no problem playing records by two seemingly different groups. Some disc jockeys referred to the band as "Buddy Holly and The Crickets," but the record labels never used this wording until after Holly's death.

In 1958, Holly broke with Petty and moved to New York, to be more involved with the publishing and recording businesses. Allison and Mauldin chose not to relocate and returned to Lubbock. Holly now recorded under his own name with studio musicians Tommy Allsup and Carl Bunch. Waylon Jennings toured with him shortly after The Crickets folded.

Allison and Mauldin looked forward to rejoining Holly after he returned from a winter tour through the northern Midwest. It was on that tour that Holly was killed in a plane crash. The Crickets went on performing after Holly's death.

Allison and Mauldin are still touring with Sonny Curtis on vocals and guitar. On October 28, 2008 The Crickets were inducted into the Musicians' Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee. They performed "Peggy Sue", "Not Fade Away" and "That'll Be the Day" at the ceremony, accompanied by guest guitarist Keith Richards.

Discography

• The "Chirping" Crickets (1957, with Buddy Holly)
• In Style with the Crickets (1960)
• Bobby Vee Meets the Crickets (1962)
• Something Old, Something New (1963)
• California Sun (1964)
• Rock Reflections (1971)
• Remnants (1973)
• Bubblegum, Pop, Ballads & Boogie (1973)
• Long Way from Lubbock (1975) (With Albert Lee).
• Back in Style (1975)
• T Shirt (1989)
• Cover to Cover (1995)
• The Original (1996)
• Rockin (2000)
• Too Much Monday Morning
• Crickets and Their Buddies (2004)
• About Time Too (With Mike Berry)